We hope you enjoyed our little "Poisson d'Avril" (as the French would have it - purely a coincidence that Radio 4's Today programme was trying to persuade us this morning that Shakespeare might actually have been French).Thanks to Andrew Strongitharm for the photo editing, and Derek Hayward for agreeing the use of his photos of the viaduct.
The photo on the right is however real; it shows our North London Tank on Imberhorne Viaduct, when being used by contractors to lift the track back in 1965. It is from Terry Cole's book: 'Southern Colour in the Sixties', available from the Bluebell Bookshop.We do actually have track laid across the viaduct again, and the waste extraction will be starting in the next couple of months, by rail. We are hoping to be able to offer rides over the viaduct from East Grinstead as part of our 50th Anniversary celebrations in August (although this is still subject to confirmation, since there's a lot to do to get to that stage). Tornado will be coming in by road, since even if we had £3 Million now, and we'd then be well on the way to completing the clearance of the tip, actually re-opening the full line by August is just a tad ambitious! But don't let that stop you donating to our 50th Anniversary Appeal - since we cannot make progress without money - it's the only thing now holding up the completion of our Northern Extension Project.
Bluebell Press officer Avril Poisson said "We are excited at the opportunity to take our flagship engine to East Grinstead to underline our commitment to the Bluebell's Northern Extension Project."
If we raise the remaining money to complete the extraction of the tip then it might be Tornado that will be on the viaduct next, having come in by rail rather than road for our 50th Anniversary Celebrations in August! Donations towards our 50th Anniversary Appeal could help us achieve that target.